Hello from Kathmandu

Hello Everyone,
Just got back in Kathmandu (after 5months), the season is 'better' now, temp is around 20C, city is a bit quiet - not so many tourist (yet).

Met with my Sherpa team today and discussed our battle plans. I still need to do some shopping today and tomorrow, then sort out my gears as well and re-pack. I also did a short interview wd Ms. Elizabeth Hawley - the woman behind the Himalayan Climbing Archives. Her group records all major climbs done in the Himalaya - especially big climbs such as Cho Oyu and Everest. It was her group who confirmed to me last year that my Cho Oyu was the first Pinoy 8000m climb, and that no Pinoy has been to Everest yet.

Tomorrow is my last prep day, then I leave for Lukla (jump-off pt) on Mar7, Tue. I'll be climbing w/ another Pinoy climber during the first stage, then be on my own (rather, my team) from April to May for the main objective.

What's the plan?
* March is dedicated to my acclimatization and training climb. I'll try to hit a 6,100m peak in Khumbu, 5- 6days away from Ev BCamp.
* If all is well, April will be my acclimatization up-&-down climb in the slopes of the big E itself.
* May will be our summit window month. If we're lucky, we'll probably do an assault on the 2nd week of May.

It has been a hectic week before my flight, now that I'm on site, I can relax a bit (hah! really now..)..

I'll do an update in Namche, maybe around Mar9. Hopefully the internet is still working in that village. The village is at ~11,500ft altitude.

'til the next update,
Garduch